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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably already seen North Carolina Realtor Mike Hege’s mega-viral video or his interview on Today.com. But did it move the needle for his business, or was it just a flash in the proverbial pan? To find out, we interviewed Mike to see if internet stardom actually leads to leads. We also picked his brain for his advice on leaning into Gen Z trends on social media.
But first, here’s the (almost unbelievable) story of how Hege went from low-key luxury North Carolina Realtor to getting interviewed on the Today Show:
Going viral
It started out innocently enough. Hege asked his Gen Z social media manager, Teresa Sottile, to make a video for his Instagram and TikTok profiles. She took it, ran with it, and came back with a new claim to fame for her boss:
Hege shared the post with the caption “Asked my Gen Z employee to edit a video for me, and this is what I got!” The video’s location was aptly set to “Mike’s Breathing.”
Press play and you’ll hear an orchestra of breathing sounds that make light of the so-called “millennial pause,” popularized by heavily edited videos on YouTube and Instagram. Hege can’t seem to get a word in. But, apparently, he didn’t need to say anything for this video to rack up over 50 million views and 5 million likes in less than a week.
Hundreds of commenters on the videos demanded Sottile deserved a raise, with one saying, “Give her a raise because this 100% caught my attention far more than whatever you were going to say.” Luckily, Hege told us Sottile received her well-deserved raise.
The duo followed up with another video titled “My Gen Z editor wrote my script,” where he used Gen Z slang to describe the features of one of his listings:
@mikehege.realtor Someone tell me what im saying, I dont even know 💀 #breathingguy #breathingrealtor #gaspingrealtor #genz #genzedit #genzemployee #genzeditsmyvideo #fyp #genzedits #genzeditsmyvideo ♬ original sound – mikehege.realtor
While it didn’t go quite as viral as his first video, it still generated over 2,000 comments on TikTok and over 300,000 likes on Instagram.
Does going viral help drive leads?
Of course, going viral as a Realtor is one thing, but actually moving the needle for your business is another. Did any of those millions of eyeballs on his videos actually result in leads? To find out, we reached out to Hege to get his thoughts on the business impact of going viral and his advice for agents who want to try and replicate his success.
According to Hege, his viral videos already generated “a few leads” — mostly from other Realtors. While that might not sound like an impressive ROI from getting his brand in front of millions of people, it’s the long game that counts when it comes to building a brand.
No one should expect to generate many leads from going viral on a global platform like TikTok, where the average user is probably still in high school. However, in the weeks after going viral, Hege was interviewed by Today.com and has been featured on Buzzfeed, Yahoo, USA Today, and now HousingWire. Any publicist worth their salt would charge thousands to generate this much press for any brand — let alone a Realtor in a small city outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Hege stressed the importance of avoiding the standard video formulas and producing content that reflects your brand. While he regularly lists million dollar+ homes, his viral videos show that he has a sense of humor and is humble enough to let someone else take the reins. This is perfect for dispelling the notion that luxury agents are stuffy and unapproachable — a key element of Hege’s “regular guy” brand.
From there, Hege told us to ensure your content resonates with your audience and piques their interest. However, Hege also stresses that nothing is more important than showing your audience that you can help them solve their real estate problems:
At the end of the day, we want more attention — but we’re actively trying to help.
Mike Hege
1. Let the home do the talking
He followed by advising agents to “let the home do the talking” when shooting a comedy-style video without a typical script. In his follow-up video, Hege might have used tongue-in-cheek Gen Z slang, but his listing was the true star of the show.
2. Trust your Gen Z marketer
If you want a chance at going viral, you need to trust them. They spend 8 hours a day on TikTok, while you don’t. You might be a real estate expert, but they’re an audience expert.
3. Embrace imperfection
While many agents think marketing needs to be polished and professional to have an impact, social media rewards authenticity and even mistakes. Think of it as an easy way to humanize your brand and build your know, like, and trust factor.
Will the trend continue?
The“Letting Gen Z Edit My Video” trend is currently spreading like wildfire across the real estate industry. However, like most Gen Z trends, it’s unlikely to last long.
Florida Realtor Demeeka Cobb embodied her inner Gen Z with an Instagram video that featured a young, hip twist to her home tours:
While Demeeka’s video generated a few hundred likes across Instagram and TikTok, it was a far cry from the millions Hege got from his videos. That’s a pretty good ROI from a video that probably took her 20 minutes to shoot, but her other videos get ten times as many likes on her TikTok. That’s no surprise, considering she has over 600,000 followers on the platform. This further proves that striking while the iron is hot is crucial to racking up likes and leads from Gen Z trends.
This begs the question. How can you learn to spot viral Gen Z trends on social media before they’re yesterday’s news? Easy. Hire a Gen Z marketer and let them edit your video. Just not Teresa Sottile. We have a feeling Hege will try to keep her on staff for as long as he can. Who wouldn’t?
